


Suldea: The Worldbuild Master Post

by Domimagetrix



Series: Djinnbound [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Adult Humor, Djinnbound, Other, References depression and mental unhealth, References to sadism and noncon in relation to a specific character, Suldea, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 15:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Domimagetrix/pseuds/Domimagetrix
Summary: An outline document for Suldea, including characters, cultural notes, mechanics of the world, history, and other tidbits. More a giant reference for anyone interested (and also as a thing for me to keep track of it all.) Most of this is from my old Discord server or nicked from a couple of lore posts I'd made some time ago and have since deleted to combine into this thing.Of note: There ARE spoilers in this, and I've kept them to a titled ("Spoilers," because I'm wicked creative) section at the bottom. If you don't want the spoilerstuff, you can cut off once you see it. Won't miss anything else.I'll post new information and updates as an edit to this, and will put dates in the notes (and quick reference words for easy finding and avoidance of irritating rereading) each time I add something.





	Suldea: The Worldbuild Master Post

**SULDEA:**

 

 

**Contracts and Bonds:** Feature prominently in the cultures on Suldea, from the Great Continent to the farthest-reaching outlier island. They’re regarded less with a superstitious mindset and more reverence; from forging to executing, they’re the foundation upon which each separate culture of old and the modern, greater global culture was and is structured.

Respect for them is shared cross-species by all Djinn. The reverence isn’t entirely unfounded - fulfilling three significant contracts in a row seems to result in a period of good fortune for whomever completes them. The length of time the good fortune lasts, as well as the significance of events it impacts, is relative to the complexity and difficulty of the tasks set in the contracts. Scientists and the more practical-minded Djinn find this wholly infuriating. Its effects are measurable and testable, but the causal forces are entirely beyond their collective bank of knowledge. Mentioning it on a date with, say, an engineer is likely to result in a drink tossed in your face.

Of note: The most potent insult in any Suldean language winds up having "oathbreaker" for a definition. It should also be noted that the phenomenon doesn't appear to affect Djinn until early adulthood.

 

**Sports, Games of Chance, and Schooling, Relevant to Contracts and Bonds:**

Sporting Events: are strictly regulated. Athletes are not contracted and are expressly forbidden to contract themselves in any way, for obvious reasons. Arrangements for salary, games/events participated in, and other such things are negotiated by experts in the field of phrasing so as to _suggest_ rather than establish, and athletes coached to respond with indirect approval rather than outright agreement.

Schooling: Contracts and bonds are taught in school from early age and well into advanced education, but the Scholastic Standards Commission ensures no children nearing adult age enter into them. Accidents do occur, however, and things like testing and presentations are often delayed for students found to be under the influence of post-completion good fortune when it’s determined that the effect is not a product of intention.

Games of Chance: Considered _highly_ illegal in their entirety. A black market does exist for them, as do criminal organizations to host and moderate. It’s often joked that the Underground is as precise and exacting as the Sporting Events and Scholastic Standards Commissions in their regulation, only with more dire repercussions for those found cheating.

 

**The Underground:** Those Djinn seeking to whet their whistles on something forbidden inevitably find themselves introduced to Suldea’s criminal elite. The Underground is a collective side-society comprised of various illegal organizations. Some cater to gambling, others to small-time or local government influence. There are, of course, elements that cater to more _exotic_ tastes. Ironically, the Underground has modeled itself after the Camarillas - divided into three sub-sects that focus on illegal interests most often found among Druja, Palis, and Ifrit respectively. Many Devolved find their careers diverted to the Underground post-devolution.

 

**Camarillas:** Suldea’s global government. No matter which segment, all are organized in roughly the same way - A Prime (or leader), a High Vizier, an assembly of lesser Viziers, court officials, and assorted positions tasked with record-keeping, public relations, and similar. Though differing in ability, the Prime of each branch is considered the most talented in the abilities relevant to their species. The branches are responsible of laws and regulations for each species, but they act as a system of checks and balances for Suldea-wide governing.

Sultan Camarilla: Key positions are held by Sultans only, although recent unrest regarding soul-related abilities has opened the gate to non-Sultans holding office in the upper echelons of Ifrit government. The Prime of the Ifrits maintains the fire that blazes atop their government building’s spire.

Drujanai Camarilla: The Prime of this branch must demonstrate at least three mind-influencing abilities. There has been one notable exception - the current Drujanai Prime has proven herself capable of influencing multiple people in her proximity, and this has been accepted in lieu of different sub-categories of influence.

Palisai Camarilla: The Prime of the Palis is a TrueShaper, or someone capable of bloodshaping, blood-bonding, and maintaining weapons/armor/objects even when physically separated from them. They present with the Min Nar’s own spectrum of abilities always, save for the legendary God-King’s power to influence blood while it’s still inside a person.

 

**Devolution and Soul Sciences:** Ifrit do, occasionally, revert in composition of the soul to one of their predecessor species - either Druja or Palis. The results of this are a diminished ability possessed by that species and - depending at what age it sets in - varying degrees in difficulty when it comes to coping with this fundamental change. The source of devolution hasn’t yet been pegged by the Suldean scientific community, although theories abound.

The soul is a pivotal facet of Djinn existence. Palis and Druja share a similar human-esque “these divide upon death” belief, but the soul is more malleable and understood a presence. It features prominently in the field of medicine, particularly in the case of the Ifrit - repairs made to the soul are immediately represented in the physical form, and consumption of souls (in part or in whole) from others aids in healing. Soul-awareness/influence is shared cross-species, although this fact has only recently come to light. The devolved possess a unique new quality upon regression - a tattoo/marking understood only by other devolved emerges when regression is complete. This tattoo is a representation of a second “name” gained by the devolved, one which may be used in mirror-calling rituals to summon the devolved in question to a particular location or bind them to/imprison them in said location. A severe vulnerability, most devolved take great pains to keep both tattoo and second “name” secret.

 

**Police and Protectorate:** Rather than being comprised of numerous independent units, Suldea’s police force is a unified entity for local, regional, landmass, and global law enforcement. There are departments structured toward more specific aspects, but ultimately these departments interact freely and openly, sharing information and resources between each other as is relevant with very little fuss. Interdepartmental politics tend more toward the middle range of sports enthusiasm in terms of severity; practical jokes and snark are common, but obstruction is exceedingly rare.

The exception to this is the Protectorate. This operates, is funded, and is staffed entirely independently of Suldea’s police. It also answers directly to the Camarilla Primes rather than to the public. They handle crimes and security concerns that fall into categories deemed too extreme for the police, and are trained in a more comprehensive, exacting way - torture resistance, advanced combat, circumventing security measures, and similar. Though some combat proficiencies are uniquely tailored to the individual and their ability, each agent of the Protectorate is, effectively, an army unto themselves. They often operate in the singular or in pairs, rarely as many as four. (A “Four” in the Protectorate lexicon equates to extraordinarily high risk operation, often an assassination contract wherein the target is extremely high profile.) Of note: The Protectorate has a segment devoted to what we’d recognize as an “X-Files”-esque line of investigation, namely things purported to be legend or myth. This segment - the Occult Division - is often regarded indulgently (and not a little condescendingly) by the rest of the force, however, the Primes seem unusually invested in their doings of late.

 

**Dha-Jinnu:** The term for the primordial Djinn, or those in existence prior to the God-Kings’ rise to power and contribution to/alteration of the population. Little is known about them save for their long existence in primitive tribes that remained relatively peaceful toward one another prior to the upheaval presented by the Palis-Druja division. What is also observed - and with no shortage of curiosity among historians - is that, while the Dha-Jinnu population grew rapidly at their nascence, that population levelled off and remained at a fairly steady 25-ish thousand persons for close to a millenium. Nothing indicates a significant change in their biology, society, or anything else that might contribute to a population maintenance measure of any kind. They reached that number and simply… stopped. The infusion of the God-Kings’ influence, in addition to spreading _rapidly_ through the population of the Greater Continent (later the Lesser and Islands) until no Dha-Jinnu remained, also coincides with (or is causal to) the resumption of population increase. They are an unsolved mystery to modern Djinn, the focal point for a great deal of fanciful theorizing, and quite a bit of fantasy media entertains different ideas about them. [More in the Spoilers section.)

 

**Rituals and Magic:** Two notes -

One - Rituals are “recipes” for certain actions, with results as varying between practitioners as they are between different chefs following the same basic instructions. Mirror summoning rituals, for example, could result in a smooth physical transition to the prepared location, or force a jarring hell-ride with the targeted summon collapsing in the circle and losing their lunch. They’re often complicated, time-consuming, and reliant upon attention to detail. Ritual-masters are professionals, most belonging to a semi-official guild of sorts, and fetch a very high price for their services. Non-professionals are a gamble; you could wind up with nearly professional-quality services or a “mildly inconvenienced” structural integrity in your house as a result.

Two - “Magic” enjoys different impressions based on who you ask. In the Lesser Islands and some areas of the Greater, it’s treated as near-fact, a kind of faith-practicality hybrid. Rituals belong in the sphere of magic so far as the residents are concerned, as do the forces surrounding contracts and souls. Greater and Lesser Continent inhabitants regard the term with scorn, seeing it as a lingering linguistic artifact from the Djinn’s less “civilized” and “enlightened” days.

 

**Music of Suldea:** Has largely undergone a shift to electronic from more traditional instruments in recent years. Although many genres do exist in a similar way as they do for us, all (at least, on the Greater and Lesser continents) share a common electro backbone. Vocal styles, like opera and ballad-style R &B, are extremely popular in the current day, alongside what we’d most likely recognize as electro-swing and industrial. On the Islands, traditional music with a more Caribbean-esque flair holds sway. Most every Islander grows up learning at least one instrument. The _heedost-nei,_ an arrangement of large pipes with a central reservoir, looks very much like a large, dead spider, and can reproduce sounds akin to the panpipe all the way to steel drums. Two well-practiced people performing at one _heedost-nei_ can create the illusion of ten or more people playing instruments at once.

 

**GIN (Global Information Network)** \- Suldea’s flora includes a pseudo-sentient race of plants that, individually, are limited in terms of the information they can process (they have a primitive light pattern “language” of sorts.) If “persuaded” to do so (with a mixture of communication via light pattern and consensual transplanting), they will engage with and combine processing power with others through a kind of arboreal network. The plants’ natural lifespan is extended by dint of this interconnectedness, and the network currently spans the entire continent in a rough grid, less neatly on the Western side of the continent (where the process was learned and begun, and organizing the network wasn’t a priority as it was thought unlikely to extend beyond that region.)  
  
**Gin-Ta** \- Name of the plant species (referred to as a collective.) If speaking of an individual plant, a Gin-Tal.  
  
The language of the Gin-Ta is a burst-pattern of light that travels through fiber optic-like veins. The pattern itself dictates basic concepts, objects, many of them environmental in theme. The speed and brilliance of the light bursts help indicate associated emotions and lend more nuance to the concepts.  
  
As an example - four bursts followed by a space and a single burst indicates “agree.” Brighter bursts indicate enthusiasm, speed indicates agreement with few or no reservations. Dimmer indicates reluctance, slow communicates strong reservations independent of (or additional to) that reluctance.

 

The Gin-Ta - and GIN - is a vastly powerful array that can store, transfer, and process information in a manner not dissimilar to our Internet. However, _un_ like the Internet, a power outage or similar issue with one area of the Gin-Ta doesn’t equate to information loss. Each plant holds very small portions of different files, “programs,” and other such things within the network, and there are multiple copies stored at various points throughout. Some plants devote themselves to what amounts to blueprints in lieu of program/file portions, retaining how each piece of information is aligned and organized to recreate the program or file. Loss of an area of the Gin-Ta is immediately recognized by the remainder of GIN and other plants’ memories are altered to prioritize more copies of the “lost” information. The network will also communicate to GIN engineers the location of a network loss with environmental identifiers - “Easternmost Hot Jungle” or similar.

 

GIN engineers and programmers design layouts with geography and environment in mind (not all of the Great Continent is naturally idyllic for them; as such, it’s the engineers’ responsibility to make forays into unsuitable landscape with enclosed structures and feeding/watering systems minimal), and maintain their “flowers.” These “flowers” are hemispherical points where input, export, and translation occurs, and roughly equate to our computer monitors and PCs. Each houses a small, individual storage capacity, processing power beneath the hemisphere, and the half-bubble atop it serves as a display and primary input device.  
  
GIN and our Internet are also disparate in another way - GIN is collectively sentient (independently of each plant’s unique semi-sentience.) GIN’s greater sentience is benevolent as a general rule, placid, and occasionally expresses very complex thought in how it handles and displays. It also has a decidedly dry sense of humor.

 

GIN is "persuaded" to sprout "flowers" at predesignated locations rather than architecture being designed wherever they sprout, although the latter does occur as GIN as a whole has to "flower" more often than there's need for them.

 

Overseas conduits have been made so plants may extend to the Lesser Continent and to larger outlier islands. Smaller islands have ferry systems to larger ones for information exchanges.

 

The individual Gin-Tal is similar to a sumac plant in structure, leaves more akin to the mimosa save being _much larger._ They’re also capable of movement and handling with those leaves. Though GIN itself is possessed of a more sophisticated sense of humor, a Gin-Tal has a more childlike one. Young ones being engaged in GIN-joining negotiation have been known to steal packs of gum, wallets, and cigarettes from negotiators’ pockets when their attention is elsewhere. They consider theft the height of hilarity.

 

(Yes. The Suldean Internet is made of lil’ shit sumac-critters.)

 

**Cuisine:**

 

Druja - Drujanai diet emphasizes proteins and certain acids, with meat and fruits prominent. A highly-prized fruit, the dran-kad, bears strong resemblance to the mangosteen in both flavor and difficulty getting through the peel. Pag - or fish jerky - is commonplace at the table, not particularly flavorful, and tends to be heavily spiced or creatively used in other dishes as it’s both inexpensive and protein-dense.

 

Palis - Palisai diet also emphasizes protein, but features sweet carbohydrates and leafy vegetables with high iron content. Most meals incorporate pastries and the “sweetsap leaf,” a large one that’s often folded into a thin tube with sweetened bean paste and eaten raw. Esdal, creatures whose appearances are best described as a cross between a goat and a narrow deer with marbled antlers, are a popular source of meat.

 

Ifrit - Hot spices permeate the Ifrit diet, which is nearly vegetarian in nature.

 

**Holidays and Observances:**

 

Nad-Kret: The Day of Unburdening, this occurs twice per year on the first cool day of each Cheh (akin to winter) season. Family and friends gather around the table for a meal and an exchange. First Nad-Kret is focused on lighthearted insults delivered in kindness and received similarly. Second Nad-Kret is the proper “unburdening,” where each person is permitted to air grievances and issues with the others in the hopes of resolving them. This coincides with the first cool day of each Cheh, as the aim is to allow “cooler heads” and temperatures to prevail rather than address things during the “heat” of the year (or moment.)

 

Sheh-Kah: The Day of Grumbling Meat, this occurs once per year during the second Cheh season and on its coldest day. So named for the meat featured at Last Meal of the day, which is the meat of the tisaad (a small porcine animal.) Once cooked, the meat emits a deeply dissatisfied grumbling noise when bitten into or sliced. This meat is also notorious for producing flatulence, often “covered” with another noisy bite of tisaad and the sound blamed on consumption rather than… release.

Of note - Sheh-Kah also produces festivals throughout the continents where said meat is featured prominently. Though the official title is “Sheh-Kah Festival,” it’s more often referred to by attendees - and anyone downwind of them - as the “Fart Fair.”

 

Oorit: The Day of Kindness and Reminders, this is a gift-giving day coinciding with the last crop reaping of each Vir (roughly autumn) season. “Gifts” are often in the form of a kindness performed - an elderly neighbor’s house cleaned and no payment or reward accepted, or friends and loved ones given letters praising their good qualities and the hard work they do. Gifts of the more physical kind are always carefully considered for the recipient - artists receiving tools and supplies for their preferred medium, a new keyboard tie-in for their Gin-Ta flower “computers” for writers, a sheaf of high-quality blueprint paper for architects, and so on. It’s often encouraged to seek out those with whom you interact little, like shop owners or maintenance personnel in businesses and schools, and pay them compliments for their dedication and work ethic.

 

Kosset: The Day of Wildness, a celebration occasionally disliked by quieter and more reserved individuals for its loud, unrestrained revelry. It occurs during the first day of each Lasi (or spring) and focuses on music, daring clothing choices, dancing, and flirtation for the flirting-inclined. Fruit brandies are prized and imbibed, and it’s seen as a pressure valve release.

Of note - the day after each Kosset is not “officially” recognized, but generally understood to be a work-free day acknowledging the likelihood that most will be suffering hangovers and searching wildly for their clothes… and a way home if they partied elsewhere.

 

Tem Ashardi Festival: bi-yearly celebration of moths and butterflies (and a strong nod to the concept-legend of Tem Ashardi) which range in complexity from local food staple deals to the equivalent of Burning Man. It's common practice anywhere to pick up the equivalent of cheap K-Mart strap-on butterfly/moth wings, wander around party grounds with a bottle of wine in hand, and slowly develop a warm wine buzz on until you're searching for (lamps) because (lamps) = civilization = bathrooms and service stations with cheap food. Common term for Tem Ashardi wine-buzz is "lamp-locked."

 

....

 

**Serrad:**  A mixture of holy book, collection of folklore tales, and historical reference in one tome. It details the story of the two God-Kings, their rise to power, the Wars, and is - alongside scientific investigation - the reason for public awareness of the Dha-jinnu.

 

**Tem Ashardi** : can refer to either:  
  
A. - Shorthand for "Tem Ashardi Adassi," or the concept of elective family/bonds, not to be confused with biological or nuclear families. (Venn crossover is seen, but the term and concept are rarely applied to those to whom one is already biologically related.) Djinn society holds the concept of chosen family as the epitome of bonds, elevated above all others.

B. - A legend told in the Serrad wherein two tribal elders prone to argument are ejected from their tribe, set up living station in front of a cave, and argue constantly about whether or not a monster lives within. Tem Ashardi is the GIN-esque collective consciousness physically embodied in a connected system of plant life and large butterflies, whose observance of the tribal elders and their bond (despite the arguments) inspired a symbolic pairing between butterfly and plant which coalesces in a brightly-colored, translucent, crystalline "memorial" upon death of butterfly and plant.

 

**CHARACTERS:**

 

**Kaid Ir-Dal:** One of two primary protagonists. Kaid is a devolved-Ifrit Drujanai member of the Protectorate, or Suldea’s equivalent of Special Forces. The Protectorate is unaware of his devolved state, assuming him a born Druja, as his regression took place relatively young and his family originates from one of the Lesser Islands. He comes from a highly superstitious area but suppresses the influence so much as he can.

An Illusionist, Kaid is capable of influencing others’ perceptions of reality. Though the ability isn’t so potent as it would’ve been had he been natural-born Druja, it’s still unusually strong for a devolved Ifrit. He spent close to a decade as an interrogator and the ability served him well. Since no Protectorate agent may spend more than a decade in Interrogation to preserve mental health, he’s since been transferred to Greater Continent interests, and is now privy to very unsettling information relevant to Suldea’s future.

 

**Slynne Azhar:** The other primary protagonist. Slynne’s an Ifrit and upper-level GIN engineer. Considered the best of the best in her field, she has an unusual rapport with the collective GIN intelligence - comprised largely of mutual shade-tossing. Born and raised in capital cities, she places no stock in old folk tales or superstitions. She is a woman of science and has no time for fantasy. She’s also become GIN’s confidante. The collective intelligence has begun altering the way it processes information, and has demonstrated signs of independent action that both the Camarillas and engineers find distressing. Hiding and refusing information to which certain agencies should have access. GIN has also begun offering Slynne cryptic riddles related to her least-enjoyed subjects: old superstitions and myths.

 

**Mārijin Min Nar:** ( _MAR_ -ee- _yin_ min-nahr) - also known as the “First of Many” and “The Father of Bloodshaping.” One of the two legendary God-Kings and an antagonist. In appearance, the Min Nar is middle-aged with a fatherly air about him. Those in his presence are overwhelmed with a sense of _profound wisdom_ alongside benevolence. His voice is every bit as warm and kindly; think Morgan Freeman with a bit of a New England burr.

He’s as charismatic as he is convinced of his own infallibility. Min Nar is determined that Djinn society is grossly lacking in his leadership, struggling to evolve into a cohesive whole that could more easily be achieved under his rule. While his kingdom did prosper mightily under his hand before the arrival of the Ifrit, it was also a dismal and freedom-bereft society - restrictive, cruel, and militaristic. Min Nar was one of the two brothers of legend, the one who remained with his native primitive tribes on the Western Shore of the Great Continent. He learned and refined his sanguikinetic power, teaching his descendents how to mold blood armor and weapons, and how to fuse blood with other materials in a “bond.” The red steel spires that marked his territory long ago crumbled with his and his brother’s disappearance. (An excerpt from the Serrad): “Land and bone and life - to all these a red tie that binds.”

 

**Dahn-Goorvet:** (Don Goor- _vay_ ) - also known as the “Dog Among Men” and “Father of Mindshaping.” The other God-King of myth and primary antagonist. Whereas Min Nar is a robust, fatherly, and gentle figure, Dahn is a thin and suspicious-looking sort. Those interacting with him often find themselves patting their pockets to confirm belongings are where they should be, and doing an equally panicked search of their own minds for fear of Dahn’s influence. His is a smooth voice with threat just below it, like a misleadingly placid river surface masking deadly currents below. A sneaky-sexy bastard.

Min Nar is charismatic, and Dahn carries something similar in the form of a dangerous air. Dahn’s own image of an idyllic Suldea involves constant political intrigue. No law should ever be set in stone as far as he’s concerned, and his philosophy incorporates a strange sense of investment spun with threads of nihilism. The outcome is inevitable and depressing, but the _journey_ is what matters. He seeks rule where nothing is held sacred save the individual’s right to expression. The brother who left and sought the Eastern Shore made for himself a kingdom like a labyrinth - courts upon courts, agencies within agencies, often as counterproductive as they were productive. He divided his descendents by ability - Illusionists, Memory Influencers, and others, applying each where the ability would serve best as he worked to keep his brother’s territory from encroaching upon his own. (Excerpt from the Serrad): “The mind is as powerful as it is self-defeating.”

 

**Tellick:** Slynne’s “adopted” Gin-Tal. They adamantly refuse to join GIN, but is agreeable to cohabitation with Slynne in particular. They will occasionally interact with GIN and seems to enjoy the exchange, but exhibits a peculiar fear of losing themselves to the arboreal network. They crawl about Slynne’s apartment, rearranging things according to an organizational method only they understand. Her keys often wind up in the toilet.

 

**Alleda:** A devolved Ifrit, now Palis, and an ex-prostitute. In her early fifties, she’s taken the considerable saved earnings of her youth and established a kind of halfway house for the devolved, oftentimes teenage runaways, and acts both as a parental figure and (highly) unprofessional counselor for those young devolved having trouble acclimating to their new natures. While not precisely legal, her arrangement is in more a legally ambiguous territory than the Underground. Alleda’s made it her mission to keep young devolved from falling into the clutches of outright crime (even if her own methods occasionally fall afoul of the law.) She’s an odd mixture of propriety - “mind your manners at the table!” - and foul language - more accurately: “mind your fuckin’ manners at the table, you little shits.” Though her halfway house is laughably small compared to the Underground’s resources, she’s made clever use of what she has in defying them and maintaining her secrecy. Power-wise, her blood manipulation takes an odd form - she molds it into garrotte-thin lines. More than a few Underground members getting too close to her territory have found themselves less a limb. Or a head.

 

**Rinas Antalen:** Current Prime of the Palis. Possibly the most popular of their Primes in recent memory. In addition to presenting with the Min Nar’s spectrum of abilities (save for internal blood manipulation, which is the Min Nar’s alone), he’s similarly charismatic and fatherly in the way of their old God-King. A bit of a passive Luddite, he harbors some distaste for what he sees as the Djinn’s over-reliance on technology, including the use of GIN in lieu of traditional books and paper.

Though his ability to forge and maintain blood items is middling, his ability with blood bonding is unparalleled. He hails from a long line of bloodmetal artisans, creating intricate and beautiful structures in miniature recognized the world over. When not performing governing duties or crafting, he’s quite devoted to his fat, flatulent bean sack of a feline pet, Corbis.

 

**Dachnavar Onjas:** Current Prime of the Druja. Though her people are commonly known as secretive, duplicitous, and reserved, she instead is blunt force encapsulated in a tiny Djinn form. She wields only two mind-influencing abilities - illusion and memory alteration, but is capable of influencing a small and moderately-crowded room of people with little difficulty. She’s foul-mouthed, short-tempered, and harbors a lingering prejudice against the Palis. Her own family traces itself back to the Wars and the losses therein. Those stories permeated her childhood, fostering the prejudice she maintains now. Familial pressures also resulted in her pursuit of the Prime station, something in which she both takes pride and finds fuel for her never-dwindling supply of resentment.

Dachnavar’s guilty pleasure: sneaking off in a cloak and pelting people with fruit from atop the Drujanai government spire. Particularly any officials who she feels consume too much of her time with political drama.

 

**Selia Ir-Had:** Sultan, and current Prime of the Ifrit. They took the Prime station in the whirlwind of controversy, both because their previous career was that of a fire-dancing performance artist and because they’re entirely progressive in matters where the older Ifrit have long held very conservative views. Recently, they initiated a government-wide push for soul study to extend beyond the purview of sultans, spearheading an initiative to offer their entire bank of knowledge on the subject to non-sultans and non-ifrits alike. Though strongly unpopular among the conservative element, centrist and progressive Ifrits view them as a long-overdue and refreshing upheaval to the system. They’re also quite humble, although by no means have they lost their flair for the stage. Their speeches are well-known for being erudite, sincere, and peppered with good humor.

Selia isn’t one to turn down a good bottle of wine. They’re also one of those “oh my god, I love you guys” drunks who inevitably finds a willing lap to sit in as they recount lurid tales from their performance days.

 

**Rayth An-Sar:** Current Chief of the Protectorate, and the Protectorate’s first non-Ifrit Chief in the entirety of the force’s history. There’s been some low-grade unrest in the wake of his taking the position, given how long it’s been held by perceived “neutral” Ifrits, but his observance of protocol and overall transparency have been above reproach. Suspicion, rarely voiced but felt among some older hats in the service, shrouds both the man and his office despite his unimpeachable behavior. An-Sar is an Influencer specializing in memory erasure. Similarly to Dachnavar, Rayth doesn’t conform at all to long-held stereotypes about the Druja. The man _seems_ open and frank because he very much _is._ His family holds various positions in the Druja Camarilla and have taken to the secrecy and manipulation inherent in those positions, their zeal - not to mention their reverence for the Dahn-Goorvet and his philosophies - resulting in Rayth’s own distaste for both. He holds a great respect for Kaid which is occasionally undermined by the sense that the agent is keeping secrets about himself. The Protectorate’s Chief also works diligently to suppress a less-than-strictly-professional interest in him.

 

**Sassta Leald:** Though divided into three sub-sections with their own respective leaders, the Underground has one undisputed queenpin, and that’s Sassta. The Palis leader of Suldea’s foremost crime organization is as appealing to the eye as she is _un_ appealing in every other respect. Few in Djinn history have ever matched her level of sadism. Though she’s entirely cognizant of the more typical levels at which her patrons prefer to witness suffering in fighting rings both Djinn and animal, everything is dialed to 11 when it comes to private engagements for herself. In instances where someone’s been found pinching from Underground profits or suspected of snitching to the police, she performs the interrogations personally. And creatively.

Objects of her affections and ire alike share short life expectancies. Those who find themselves in her bedroom live perhaps days longer than the average suspect found undermining the Underground’s interests, with the sole exception of Ardik. Masochism is only slightly preferred over a lack thereof and by _no_ means a requirement.

 

**Ardik Kawn:** Sassta’s primary lover and a sort of unofficial Second. Unlike Sassta, he is unusually overburdened with conscience for one involved in the Underground.

He attempts to act as a buffer between his wholly dangerous lover and those unfortunate enough to find themselves targets of her unhealthy “interest.” He’s not always successful, but the queenpin’s fondness for him has occasionally served him in keeping her from killing suspects and more “temporary” intimate partners. A devolved-to-Druja, he did inherit a small memory-influencing ability whose signature is so minute that he’s capable of using it on Sassta in his efforts to keep others alive. Himself a pain slut, he’s both addicted to Sassta’s attentions and wholly aware how dangerous they are for others, and that conflict is slowly eroding his sense of self and destabilizing his sense of empathy. His struggle to maintain both is becoming flimsier with time.

 

**Mallino Or-Nyl:** A thoroughly competent - if not necessarily approved by the Master Ritualists’ Guild - ritualist and summoner. Though his ability rivals that of the Guild’s leader, he harbors a strong distaste for the extravagant pricing set by the guild and chooses to operate independently. He spent many years in a state of financial strain as a result, but his reputation has grown with customer satisfaction and word of mouth recommendations, and he no longer suffers an absence of demand despite the lack of Guild backing. Occasionally - and when the child in question displays a talent for it - Mallino takes one or two of Alleda’s charges under his wing, teaching them the ropes of ritual performance (including a few less-than-well-known tricks) before they’re of an age to enter Guild training proper. His current charge is both gifted in it and a teenaged pain in his ass.

 

**Yaray Antalen:** Alleda’s niece and an extraordinarily gifted child currently enjoying her mid-teens. She’s taken to ritual and summoning with an unusual intensity and insight into the practices. Yaray accompanies Mallino while he works as an “assistant,” as he is somewhat quiet about his teaching, occasionally performing significant portions of rituals under his close supervision. Those homes visited by Mallino and Yaray, in addition to seeing successful completion of a ritual or summoning, are also subject to the latter’s unquenchable thirst to tidy the untidy. There won’t be as much as a chalk-smear left on the floor, but books might be discovered rearranged in alphabetical order. Including the “adult” books. She’s also taken to her blooming interest in others, announcing the fact in very unsubtle terms to her unofficial tutor.

“I kinda want to read that man’s face with my hands. Except with my face. The tongue part of my face-”

“Yaray, stop.”

 

**Tasnir Mardai:** Ifrit elder, and the oldest Djinn alive on the Lesser Islands. He holds a kind of governor status for the Islands by the Camarillas’ decree, but he couldn’t give a whit less about that or anything else originating from "those butt-scorched city folk." He’s the local witchdoctor, wise man, and a living library of the area’s superstitions and legends. He’s also at perpetual war with a small group of Gin-Ta inhabiting his backyard. The’re loosely connected to each other in a manner not dissimilar to GIN itself, although they aren’t “adhered by root” to the land and can separate and operate independently of each other when they wish. The little gang has pure mischief on the mind when it comes to Tasnir’s garden, and most days see him outside with a broom, sweeping them off his property. (They’ve been known to yank vegetables out and stuff them into his gutter drains, making huge, muddy messes. They then use said mud to paint the outside of his windows. Tasnir is a very tired and frustrated wise man.)

 

**Trast Ma-Hir:** Another member of the Protectorate, often the first chosen to pair with Kaid when an assignment requires two agents. Notorious for his complete lack of couth and hair-raisingly unfortunate after-hours activities, he’s a disaster of an Ifrit with no interest in social graces unless they're required of him by his job. He’s made it his mission in life to unsettle Kaid with his tales of misadventure. Failing that, he’s convinced Kaid is in dire need of “lightening the fuck up” and has made it his duty to see it happen. Kaid, in turn, derives endless amusement from his charade as a lifeless bore and the mild distress it seems to cause Trast. 

 

**Attria:** Palis member of the Protectorate and a dab hand where fine-tuned bloodshaping is concerned. She’s an easily flustered soul, and develops crushes at the drop of a hat. She's wee, all of about five feet with a little tiptoe action, with a mass of blond, curly hair. Attria digs online gaming mightily - a born raid leader with a gaming-exclusive foul mouth of which she's rarely conscious. She also has "disguises," or involved appearance changes involving wigs, makeup, and clothing, attached to "personae." To put it in a more Earth perspective, she might one day show up in a red beehive wig, monster truck shirt, blue eyeshadow, and pop bubblegum while asking around for the corn dog vendor, then show up the next day in a duster, fedora, and prop cigar, dishing out hardboiled detective lines like, "long, tall drink of whiskey in a skirt."

 

**Rech (pronounced “Wreck”:** Another Palis Protectorate agent whose considerable size and muscle bely his soft-spoken manner. Very much the go-to agent where negotiation is needed, and often finds himself being a listening ear for other agents’ problems. He's a gentleman-style pugilist, a breeder of rare beetles (click-clack children), a gardener, specializing in blood-bonds with the land.

 

**Perdik:** An older Ifrit agent fast approaching the age of retirement, Perdik’s specialty is tech. Dismantling security systems or rerouting/disrupting info feeds, he’s the nerd of nerds. Unlike most agents - who have varying degrees of difficulty acclimating to the onset of retirement - Perdik is really quite ready to take his ease, and reminds everyone both of that fact and his fossil collection whenever possible.

 

**Auvan Nadek:** Heir to a modest fortune and an amateur hobbyist where genetics are concerned, Auvan is a living Djinn meme and Dha-Jinnu fiction writer/speculator. He has a respectable following for his work. He's also never seen out of doors without some wholly incomprehensible ensemble on. Feathers, sequins, fluorescent plaid skirts and business casual shirts, he _knows_ what looks good... he just doesn't care. It's not _fun._ Pairing taffeta bellbottom pants with electric blue pleather jacket _is_ fun, so that's exactly what he does. GIN taps him (in addition to Slynne) when things on Suldea begin taking their turn for the uncertain. To put the man in perspective, were you to transport him to modern-day Earth and deposit him in Portland, he'd take one look at the flaming bagpipe unicyclist and think, "I understand nothing else in this world, but I understand you."

 

**Neri:** Alleda's newest charge, and the first Dha-Jinnu child on Suldea since the fall of the God-Kings.

 

**SPOILERS:**

 

**The Written:** This is the First Contract of Life, written in the primordial Language of Sentience (what devolved recognize in their tattoos and Dha-Jinnu in their markings.) Dha-Jinnu markings are not simple products of genetics, but each member of the species is actually a living written line of this Contract - one that totals at 25 thousand lines, give or take. Devolved tattoos have no direct bearing on it, but the words (names) represented in them also instill a sense of reverence in the devolved to the Dha-Jinnu and their pivotal role in the life cycle of sentience on Suldea. The source of the Written - Suldea itself - rejects the presence of of the God-Kings, perceiving their theft of the Vein of Life by ingestion to be the utmost insult. The loss of the Written with their contribution to the Dha-Jinnu meant Suldea withdrew into itself and severed its connection to its people, taking with it only the God-Kings and effectively sealing them away underground. With the first new Dha-Jinnu birth since the earliest times of the Wars, Suldea (the entity contained in the planet itself) returns, seeking a renewal of the Contract of Life, but in its return has released both God-Kings, unwittingly risking a recurrence of events that lead to its withdrawal in the first place.

 

**Dha-Jinnu, Cont’d:** The Protectorate has become aware of several unusual births coinciding with the reappearance of a blood spire on the Western Shore. These appear to be “Djinn” whose powers and traits don’t match Palisai, Drujanai, or Ifrit ones. Their appearance is subtly different - a slight iridescence in the webbing of their ears, and swirling “tattoo” patterns on shoulders, legs, and fingers not dissimilar to the tattoos found on the devolved. These markings seem to share a “language” with those tattoos, as well, and are understood by the devolved. They also display abilities that deviate from modern Djinn, however small in scope - telekinesis, whistling in keys that have interesting effects on those to whom the whistling is directed, even one who’s demonstrated the ability to pull heat into a temporary pocket of nothingness in a reversal of the Ifrit fire-spawning ability. They’ve been identified as Dha-Jinnu by their biological uniquenesses and are being monitored carefully by the Protectorate. They are a key element to why sentient life on Suldea has evolved at all, both a force that helps shape this process and its unfortunate victims.


End file.
